what makes the comic nerd in Heffie happy

[thehefner]

First, for those wondering when this was coming out, behold: the official solicitation of WEDNESDAY COMICS:





In July, DC Comics gives a fresh twist to a grand comics tradition with WEDNESDAY COMICS, a new, weekly 12-issue series by some of the greatest names in comics today!
WEDNESDAY COMICS is unique in modern comics history: Reinventing the classic weekly newspaper comics section, it is a 16-page weekly that unfolds to a sprawling 28” x 20” tabloid-sized reading experience bursting with mind-blowing color, action and excitement, with each feature on its own 14” x 20” page.
Spearheaded by DCU Editorial Art Director Mark Chiarello, whose past editing credits include BATMAN BLACK & WHITE, DC: THE NEW FRONTIER and SOLO, each page of WEDNESDAY COMICS spotlights the continuing adventures of DC heroes, including:
• BATMAN, WEDNESDAY COMICS’ weekly cover feature, by the Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
• ADAM STRANGE, by writer/artist Paul Pope (BATMAN: YEAR 100)
• METAMORPHO, written by New York Times best-selling writer Neil Gaiman (bolded for those among you here who might be interested) with art by Eisner Award-winner Michael Allred (Madman)
• THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN, written by Walter Simonson (Thor, MANHUNTER) with art by famed DC cover artist Brian Stelfreeze
• DEADMAN, written by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck, art by Dave Bullock
• KAMANDI, written by Dave Gibbons (WATCHMEN, GREEN LANTERN CORPS) with art by Ryan Sook (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, ARKHAM ASYLUM: LIVING HELL)
• SUPERMAN, written by John Arcudi (The Mask) with art by Lee Bermejo (JOKER)
• WONDER WOMAN, written and illustrated by Ben Caldwell (Dare Detectives)
• GREEN LANTERN, written by Kurt Busiek (TRINITY, ASTRO CITY) with art by Joe Quiñones (TEEN TITANS GO!)
• TEEN TITANS, written by Eddie Berganza with art by Sean Galloway
• SUPERGIRL, written by Jimmy Palmiotti (JONAH HEX) with art by Amanda Conner (POWER GIRL)
• HAWKMAN, written and illustrated by Kyle Baker (PLASTIC MAN, Special Forces)
• SGT. ROCK, written by Adam Kubert (SUPERMAN: LAST SON), ilustrated by legendary comics artist Joe Kubert
• THE FLASH, written by Karl Kerschl (TEEN TITANS YEAR ONE, THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE) and Brenden Fletcher, illustrated by Karl Kerschl
• METAL MEN, written by Dan DiDio with art by Ian Churchill (SUPERGIRL)
WEDNESDAY COMICS will arrive in stores folded twice to 7” x 10”, with the first issue set to reach stores on July 8.

Issue #1 on sale July 8; Issue #2 on sale July 15; Issue #3 on sale July 22; Issue #4 on sale July 29 • 1-4 of 12 • 7” x 10”, 16 pg, FC, $3.99 US


I haven't bought single comic issues for a couple years now, but I will be picking up every single issue of this. Daring concepts like this need to be supported, and the fact that it's featuring some of the greatest talent working alongside hot-as-hell indie newcomers on some of comicdom's greatest characters is just gravy.

Honestly, the only thing that could make this even better is if I could find out who this girl is and propose to her:



Found via box_in_the_box, with whom I will battle in the Pit o' Death for this lady's affections. I mean, I love Plastic Man, but she pulls off ol' Eel's costume so much better that it's a wonder it wasn't a female character's outfit from the beginning! I tells ya, the Golden Age was a strange combination of innovative and questionable costume designs.

The fact that someone at Box's LJ responded to his query as to this girl's identity with "... Rachel Maddow?" just makes her all the more gloriously maddening. I must know who she is, if *only* to partner up costumes at a convention. But the question is, which female character should I man-itize to wow and woo Plastic Woman?

Sigh. Someday, Lady Plas. Someday.

Comments

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

KILT. IS THAT EVEN A REAL QUESTION.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I do have a blue tartan kilt which my mother bought for me on a whim (she's bought a lot of weird things for me on whims, including an entire Musketeer style outfit worn by an extra on the TV show BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) but man, the tartan just would send the wrong message. Scottish Wonder Man? Dash it all, I still have no use for the kilt!

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

You could be the Death Eater MacNair for a con or halloween, because the MacNair tartan is chiefly blue, and I think even Voldemort would think twice before telling a Scotsman to go home and change.

Also you'd get to carry around a fuck-off huge axe.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Ha, I am woefully unknowledgeable of most things HP, tempting though a fuck-off huge axe is.

Hmm. Maybe if I go as Groundkeeper Willie as a Blue Lantern? No, damn it, he's a Red all the way. Maybe Scrooge McDuck? No, crap, he'd be Orange. Damn it!

At this point, I should officially say hi. Hi! Do we know one another? I see you're in B-More, which makes you an hour away from me. I'm always just curious when someone friends me out of the blue but I can't figure out how they found my LJ. :)

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I'm woe_in_a_hoodie's fiancé.

I don't know why I didn't friend you sooner--you like boingo AND plastic man? Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me? XD

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

?? *checks profile* I don't know that person either! To quote Hermes Conrad, "That just raises further questions!"

Hell yeah, it's always a good thing to meet another person who appreciates the Boingo! What's your favorite songs? Mine's still "Not Your Slave."

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

O lord, I have a song for every occasion, with Boingo. Um... For what occasion? I have a whole playlist for 'I am pissed off and want to fucking kill some bitches'.

Cos seriously it isn't one song. It's just...pretty much all of it. Even the really late stuff. Even the really political stuff. Even the album version of Change which is like eight minutes long and scares the crap out of me. I grew up with Boingo.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

EXACTLY, that's what I've been trying to tell everyone (or at least, I would if I ever had occasion to talk about Oingo Boingo to people): there's a song for absolutely every occasion and mood! What other band has that kind of versatility? Seriously, besides the Beatles, I can't think of anyone else!

Yeah, unfair question, I'm totally the same way too. I was just looking for any excuse to talk about how much I love "Not Your Slave."

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

Lol, well I've been trying not to be a name-dropper.

And I seriously challenged woe_in_a_hoodie to find a mood or occasion that I couldn't think of a Boingo song for. Needless to say, I won that game! XD

I like Nasty Habits, because it isn't really about how deviance is bad, it's more mocking how hypocritical people are about it. That's my take, at least.

Also? Boingo is what got me to read The Island of Dr Moreau. Is there any other band from the eighties that convinces you to go READ something, seriously?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Wait. What Boingo song would be played for Thanksgiving?

Ha, awesome! I love that book. What got me to read it was the movie with Brando and Val Kilmer. I was too young at the time to realize how gloriously horrible and bizarre it was, and was too busy thinking Montgomery was awesome in his bugfuck crazy way.

Any other band? Um... well, as of a few days ago, my discovery of Laurie Anderson is seriously leaning me toward maybe trying to read Burroughs again one of these days!

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

Gratitude, of course.

See, I liked the Brando film. It's the closest a film version has gotten to the actual crackiness of the book.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

... if we ever do hang out in Baltimore, remind me to buy you a slice of pie at Dangerously Delicious Pies. You deserve it.

Oh, I like it too! Or rather, I enjoy it, let's put it that way. I mean, not as a good movie, but as a bizarre-ass crackfest. Quite right, it is indeed more faithful in that regard! Have you seen ISLAND OF LOST SOULS? I have not, and hear it's quite great.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

OMG pie! \o/

Island of Lost Souls? H'm, I feel like I've heard of it, but I haven't seen it.

...Would this be a bad time to mention I am way into Disney, also?

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

It's SO good. A little pricy (six bucks per slice), but it's worth it. Savory pies, quiches, and sweet pies. Mmmmmmmm.

Oooh, lookie what I found!



I should put some time aside and watch it tomorrow.

You say that like it's a bad thing! Okay, truth be told, I'm far more of a WB boy, but I have a soft spot for certain Disney thing, especially the ducks. THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK is one of my all-time favorite comics!

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

I grew up on WB and Disney. Bugs Bunny was seriously the coolest person I could think of, as a kid. I wanted to be like him.

And now I am.

Which is even better.

But yeah, both my parents worked for Disney, and I've worked there, and my mum is a Disney geek, and her dad was into mickey mouse too. So I'm a special kind of Disney geek. It's madness.

And...well...I say that like it's a bad thing, because people usually react like it is. Liking Disney, I mean. Truly liking it, with the magic intact. The magic is still there, for me, and always will be.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

It actually took me a few years to appreciate Bugs! As a child, I was always more of a Daffy fan. On one hand, I loved the hyper "WOO-HOO!" Bob Clampett Daffy, and on the other, I winced that Chuck's Jones' egotistical Daffy who would dance out on stage and finish with a big gesture that screamed "LOVE ME!" ... to a dead silence. It hit a nerve in the young performer in me.

Wow, so you ARE Bugs Bunny now? That explains the propensity for drag!

I noticed you said you grew up in Disneyland, and I was wondering how literally you meant that! Wow. The stories you must have!

Well, it's clear you have a special relationship to Disney. And really, even hardcore Disney haters have a way of melting when they encounter Disney World/Land. It's hard to escape the magic when you're right there. Maybe I'll actually go to Disney World when I go to Orlando next month for two weeks to perform my show at the Fringe Festival there.

Have you read any of the Duck comics? I'm rather new to them myself, and I'm mightily enamored of 'em. Plus, they're worshipped in Europe, way more than they are here. It's crazy. In an awesome way.

[mellifluous-ink.livejournal.com]

No, seriously, I just realised as I was typing that I have gained so many traits from Bugs, there is no way I haven't been subconsciously trying to be him since the age of six. I'm laid-back, manipulative, smart, and I know the value of a good lie and a good laugh.

I haven't read any Disney comics, actually. What I know of comics is very slim, because I am a) poor and b) never actually had an 'in' in the form of a comics fan in my family or whatnot. I read the DC origin story anthology (where I found Plas), and I have a few compendiums of the Ultimates series by Marvel. I watched TAS ravenously as a child. The rest I picked up on the internet or listening to my geekier friends from high school. I want to be into comics, but I just have no idea where I should start. I tried to like Alan Moore, but I really don't even after reading the first two issues of LXG and all of Lost Girls. I got the Sandman anthology that contained the award-winning story, but I found it depressing. I tried marvel, but again, too depressing. I have Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Ground...and I found it interesting, but still rather depressing. I tried a random darkhorse comic that looked interesting, and...it didn't grab me either.

I have no idea what's wrong. I've tried everything that anyone has recommended, and I still haven't found any comics that I like. I like the worlds, I like the concepts, I like the animated shows and running away with them re fanfic...but I have yet to find an actual comic series that really grabs me. :( I fear it makes me seem something of a culture chameleon.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Ha! Wow, what a bittersweet thing that must be to realize for a near-literal child of Disney! Whereas I, meanwhile, have had to deal with being hyperactive and egotistical in my own Daffyish ways!

If it ever gets back into print, I wholeheartedly urge you to track down Don Rosa's THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SCROOGE MCDUCK. I couldn't understand why there was so much hype around a bloody duck comic, until I read it and... well, it's now one of my all-time favorite comics. I need to track down the original classics by Carl Barks, who is worshiped for his duck comics. Arguably, he did more for Donald and company than any of the Disney cartoons themselves have (he created Scrooge, among other characters)!

Oh wow, you've only read those two Alan Moore comics?! Egad, those aren't the best examples of his work! Have you tried WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA, and/or TOP TEN? The last one, I can't possibly imagine you or anyone else not adoring. It's pure wonderfulness: a city where every single person--right down to the cats and mice--are superheroes, and Top Ten are the police force that keep 'em in line!

Well stick with me, kid, and you'll learn plenty about the wide, wide world of comics! I worked at a comic shop for eight years, and I pride myself on being able to customize comic recommendations to people, plus ease them into different and awesome stuff. I bet I could hook you up.

[nectarousness.livejournal.com]

SORRY TO RUIN THIS CONVO, BUT DARKPLACE ICON = LOVE.

Sanchez was so sexy. And his voice didn't fit him at all.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

GOD I need more than six episodes of that show. By the time I got to the "One Track Lover" number, I realized that this show was literally made for me by strange otherworldly forces.

[nectarousness.livejournal.com]

I KNOW. I WAS SO UPSET TO FIND THAT IT WAS ONLY ONE SEASON. It had everything I want in a show. Bad acting, terrible camera work, a hilariously cliche script, explosions, random shirt-tearing-off moments, levitating plates, bicycle races against giant monkey people... I could go on and on.

I feel like every time I actually find a show I like, it gets canceled or is very short-lived.

Thankfully, half of the cast is in "The IT Crowd," which has lived past one season, so phew.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Well, I suppose it's better that way. Otherwise, how could we even have the lives we have now if they would always be making shows that awesome?

What's THE IT CROWD?

Thankfully, Dean Lerner is on THE MIGHTY BOOSH, which I'm starting to rather enjoy (which is amazing, considering how much I hated it when a friend of mine showed me "I'm Old Gregg!" out of context).

[nectarousness.livejournal.com]

"The IT Crowd" is a British sitcom about a two IT guys and a misplaced woman who work for this company and it's pretty damn random. It also has people from "The Mighty Boosh" on it.



One of many clips on youtube.

[nectarousness.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxEd19OwtNw

This also.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Both clips, especially the second... astounding!

It's like being visited by old friends! And dear lord, everything out of Richard Ayoade's mouth is deadpan brilliance. I now dearly want him to meet Jemaine Clement from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS to have a deadpan-off.